Safety in Numbers

A/N: This is pure fluff. I just got back off vacation and felt the need to write. Reviews are very welcome.

Disclaimer: Characters and songs mentioned are not mine. blah blah blah

"Come on Angela, we've had these plans for months…Dan's just being a big baby…No, I can't get the deposit back and the plane tickets are nonrefundable," Alex Eames said into her cell phone. "OK, but you owe me...Yeah…Bye."

Alex snapped her phone shut and sighed loudly.

"Something wrong?" he partner, Robert Goren, asked, glancing up from his paperwork.

"Angela backed out on me. Her husband has the flu and can't take care of the kids by himself. Looks like I will be going to Key West by myself," she said, picking up her pen and going back to her own reports.

"Can't you find someone else to go with you?" he asked, tapping his desk with the pen.

"Not on three days notice," she answered.

"Do you think that's really safe?" he asked, his brow furrowing the way it usually did when he was worried.

Eames looked up and smiled, "I think I can take care of myself."

"I know you can, I just think that there's safety in numbers," he said, still concerned.

"What are you, my mother?" she asked, touched by his concern.

This time it was Goren's turn to smile.

"Just don't want to have to break in a new partner," he teased, going back to the report.

"If you're so concerned, why don't you come with me?" she said, teasing him right back.

"Ok, when do we leave," Bobby mumbled, not even looking up.

Alex's head shot up, surprise registering on her face.

"Are you serious?" she said, her full attention now on her partner.

"Sure, why not? I'm sure the Captain will give me the time off, considering you'll be gone anyway," Bobby answered. "I haven't been diving in a long time. Are you sure you don't mind?"

"No, I don't mind. ...Well, if you're sure," Alex said, half smiling, half smirking at her partner, who even after six years was still full of surprises.

"When's the flight?" he asked, opening his notebook to write down the date and time.

"It's Monday at 7 am," Alex answered. "I have the tickets at my apartment. As well, as a brochure on the hotel."

"How about I get a car service to pick us up at five and drop us off at the airport?" Bobby offered, writing more notes.

Surprised again Alex answered, "That would be great. Angela's husband was supposed to drop us off."

It was at that moment that Alex remembered that she had only reserved one room with two queen beds. She would have to call the hotel and see if she could change the reservation to two singles. Alex signed the last of her paperwork and looked at her watch, 7 pm on a Friday night and their case was solved. Time to go!

"I'm going to head home. Call me if you need anything," she said, standing up and gathering her purse and weapon. "And Bobby, if you change your mind, I'll understand."

Goren didn't respond. He just concentrated on signing the last of his reports so that he could get home and change for his date. But it was then that it occurred to him that maybe Alex hadn't really been serious when she had asked him to come with her on vacation. He was probably one of the things that she wanted to get away from. He would do his best to stay out of her way. She could have her vacation and he could have his, he thought and made his way to Deakins' door to plead his case

Sunday afternoon, Alex was folding clothes in her apartment, making little piles of clothes that she wanted to pack and those that she wanted to leave behind. She had called the hotel the night before and had been able to change her reservation. The hotel had upgraded her to an oceanfront hut with its own private beach. The owner of the hotel had had a son on the NYPD who was killed on 9/11 and as soon as he had found out that she was a Major Case detective, he had insisted. The idea of having her own little slice of heaven for a week appealed to her immensely. Long walks in the secluded sand and dips in the cool water. She thought about her partner and his offer of going with her. It had taken her completely by surprise. Bobby didn't really seem like the beach type, but she had learned a long time ago not to make assumptions about Bobby Goren.

Alex held up a bright blue bikini and wondered if she should pack it. She thought about what kind of reaction she might get from Bobby and decided that she should. Why should he be the only one capable of a surprise? The bikini was the first thing she put into the suitcase. She spent the next three hours with her suitcase, itinerary and a bottle of red wine and when the phone rang she was dancing to Jimmy Buffett in a t-shirt and underwear.

"Eames," she answered, giggling into the cell phone.

"It's me," her partner said, on the other end of the line.

"Hey, Bobby, ready to go," she yelled, taking the last drink from her glass.

"I see that somebody has already started hers," he answered, smiling to himself.

"Damn, straight," she said, still dancing and wasting away in her own Margaritaville.

"I just wanted to make sure that it was still ok for me to go," he said nervously.

Alex stopped dancing, "Goren, I swear, if you back out on me, I will exact my painful revenge when I return."

Bobby laughed, "All right, I just wanted to make sure."

"I wouldn't have it any other way," she confessed. "ohhhh I love this song.

He could hear "Cheeseburger in Paradise" blaring through the phone, Alex singing along and wondered what he had gotten himself into.

"Uh, Alex," he yelled. "I'll see you in the morning. Get some sleep."

" 'Kay," she answered and hung up the phone.

Goren had seen Alex drunk before and he had occasionally been the one to be on the buying end of a margarita binge, but he wasn't sure what he was in for, but he was definitely interested in finding out.

tbc